NO ABORTION FUNDING IN THE BUDGET

NO ABORTION FUNDING IN THE BUDGET

Open Letter to the Illinois General Assembly

May 24th, 2018

On September 28, 2017, Governor Rauner signed into law House Bill 40, which authorizes the use of taxpayer funds for abortions through Medicaid and state employee health insurance. This new mandate is not eligible for reimbursement by the federal government, putting the entire cost on Illinois taxpayers.

House Bill 40 did not contain an appropriation; therefore, funding for elective abortions will come out of state Medicaid and health insurance funding.

No one knows how many more abortions there will be due to House Bill 40, but no matter the number, the principle is the same: our state tax dollars should not go to pay for abortion. You have the opportunity to ensure that no taxpayer money is used to end the life of any unborn child.

We are asking all members of the Illinois General Assembly to refuse to provide the means for House Bill 40 to accomplish its deadly consequences by including language in annual appropriations denying the use of tax dollars for elective abortions.

Due to our less-restrictive laws, in 2016 there was a 40 percent increase in the number of people coming to Illinois from out-of-state to undergo an abortion, forcing Illinois taxpayers not only to pay for abortions of Illinois citizens but of those from out-of-state. House Bill 40 will accelerate this trend.

Please work with us to protect taxpayers and unborn children.

Robert Gilligan, Executive Director

Catholic Conference of Illinois

Dawn Behnke, President

Illinois Federation For Right to Life

Eric Scheidler, Executive Director

Pro-Life Action League

Mary Kate Knorr, Executive Director

Ralph Rivera, Legislative Chairman

Illinois Right to Life Action

Bonnie Quirke, President

Lake County Right to Life

September 3, 2014

National Right to Life will score U.S. Senate vote on Democrats’ constitutional amendment to curb political speech

The proposal would “empower incumbent federal and state lawmakers to restrict and criminalize speech that is critical of their actions,” NRLC warns in letter to senators

The National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the nation’s oldest and largest pro-life organization, today warned members of the U.S. Senate that it will “scorecard” the upcoming Senate roll call on a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow Congress and each state legislature to restrict or prohibit virtually any type of communications to the public that might “influence elections.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has indicated that he will seek Senate action on the measure on September 8. Fifty (50) Democratic senators have so far expressed support for the measure.

The letter, signed by National Right to Life President Carol Tobias, Executive Director David N. O’Steen, Ph.D., and Legislative Director Douglas Johnson, referred to the proposal as “a radical assault on the Bill of Rights.”

“The dispositive Senate roll call on S. J. Res. 19 will be included in NRLC’s scorecard of key roll call votes of the 113th Congress, with a vote in favor of the amendment accurately described as a vote to empower incumbent federal and state lawmakers to restrict and criminalize speech that is critical of their actions on crucial public policy issues, including abortion,” the letter advised. “. . . One can hardly conceive of language more sweeping than the phrase ‘to influence elections.’ On its face, it could encompass not only communications regarding the actions of individuals who hold or seek elective office – which would be bad enough – but also communications regarding politically charged public policy issues (i.e., issue advocacy). . . . There would be nothing to prevent Congress or a state legislature from crafting restrictions that effectively define one side of a public policy debate as the election-influencing side, and restricting communications to the public that advocate that particular viewpoint.”